FIELDWORK and detailed study of existing
natural history collections continue to reveal
new species of Colombian amphibians, especially in cloud forest habitats at moderate
elevations of the three Andean cordilleras
(Lynch et al., 1997). It is not uncommon for
newly discovered species to challenge prior
understanding as a result of their unexpected
phylogenetic positions or morphological or
behavioral characteristics. Here, we describe a
new species of bufonid from the Pacific slopes
of the Cordillera Occidental that possesses a
middle ear unlike that of any other anuran but
that resembles that of many salamanders.